Old Path White Clouds, Chapter 2

  In Chapter 2 of Old Path White Clouds,  the Buddha gives a talk and uses the caring and tending of water buffalo as a metaphor for Practicing the Way.  The Way is the Buddhist path to freedom from suffering.   It is the path that the Buddha teaches, and the path that the bikkhus have chosen.. 

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KEY BUDDHIST CONCEPTS

- 11 Practices of a Bikkhu

- essential elements of the body

- the Six Sense Organs

- the Four Noble Truths

- the Four Establishments of Mindfulness

- Sixteen Methods of Conscious Breathing 

- Sitting Meditation

- Walking Meditation

- arhatship

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  "a bhikku who follows these eleven points will attain arhatship in the span of six years of practice"

11 practices of a bhikku (monk, sangha member)

1  - recognize each of the essential elements of his body

2 - know which actions of body, speech, and mind are worth and which are not

3  - cleanse the  mind and body of desires, attachments, anger, and aversion

4 - watch over the six sense organs--eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind--so they do not become lost in dispersion

5 - uses the teaching of becoming awake to others  how to avoid afflictions of body and mind

6 - avoid paths that lead to desire for fame, wealth, and sexual pleasure (such as taverns and theaters)

7 - cherish the joy of peace and meditation

8- rely on the Four Noble Truths to negotiate life

9 - know the Four Establishments of Mindfulness are the nourishment that leads to liberation

10 - take care to preserve relationships with nearby communities

11 - depend on the wisdom and experience of the elders

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Comments: Rahula, the Buddha's 18 year old son, and Svasti, the 21 year old newly ordained monk, miss their families and share their feelings about this. The fact that Rahula, Svasti, and the Buddha left their families to study the path of enlightment suggests that the family takes a backseat to this endeavor.  Yet the Buddha did not accept Svasti as a Bikkhu at the age of 11 knowing he was the head of his family unit.  And, though the Buddha, aka Prince Siddhartha Gautama, left his wife and new born child to seek enlightenment, he knew they would thrive within the environment of the palace.  His father was a king.  


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